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35 ‎[1] **The word of the Lord was with me, saying: **
‎[2] **Son of man, direct your attention against Mount Se’ir,**** **a mountain range in the land of Edom, **and prophesy in its regard. **The name Mount Se’ir is a designation for the entire land of Edom, which is a mountainous region.** **
‎[3] **Say to it: So said the Lord God: Behold, I am **turning **against you, Mount Se’ir, and I will extend **or raise **My hand against you **to smite you,** and I will render you desolation and waste; **everyone will be astonished at the extent of the destruction.
‎[4] **I will render your cities ruins, and you, **in your entirety,** will be desolation, and you will know that I am the Lord. **
‎[5] As descendants of Esau, the Edomites are more closely related to Israel than other nations, and Edom is referred to in the Torah as the brother of Israel. Nevertheless, the prophet tells the Edomites: You will be punished harshly **because you have eternal hatred **of the Jewish people** and have clashed with** or spilled the blood of ** the children of Israel by means of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of ultimate iniquity, **when the magnitude of Israel’s sins caused God to destroy it. Edom was never a large nation, and it was generally subservient to the Kingdom of Judah. When Judah was ultimately destroyed, Edom rejoiced at the opportunity to exact vengeance upon the children of Israel and contributed to the ongoing massacre (see 25:12);
‎[6] **therefore, as I live, **a formulation indicating an oath –** the utterance of the Lord God – so I will render you blood, and **the **blood **of your brother that you have spilled **will pursue you; surely, you hated blood, and blood will pursue you. **Alternatively, the latter part of the verse means: Had you not hated the blood of your brother, would blood have pursued you?
‎[7] **I will render Mount Se’ir desert and desolation, and I will eliminate from it passerby and wayfarer. **
‎[8] **I will fill its mountains with its slain. Your hills and your valleys and all your streams, those slain by the sword will fall in them. **
‎[9] **I will render you eternal desolation, and your cities will not be restored **to their former state,** and you will know that I am the Lord. **The destruction and desolation of Edom will last forever.
‎[10] You deserve this harsh punishment, **because you said: The two nations and the two lands, **meaning Edom and Judah, or the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel,** will be mine, and we will take possession of it,**** **the two nations and lands, which were united and will be reunited, **and the Lord was there. **God knows exactly what you are plotting, and He will ensure that it will not succeed;
‎[11] **therefore, as I live – the utterance of the Lord God – I will act **towards you** in accordance with your wrath and in accordance with your zealotry, that which you did from your hatred of them, **Israel, **and I will become known among them when I judge you.** Through your harsh punishment, I will reveal Myself to Israel, and they will have faith in Me and in My power.
‎[12] **You will know that I the Lord have heard all your execrations that you stated against the mountains of Israel, saying: They have become desolate; they have been given to us to consume. **You, the Edomites, have cursed the mountains of Israel in your hope that they would be emptied of their inhabitants, and that you would then take possession of the land and its produce. The idea that the land of Judah belonged to Edom stemmed from the fact that they share a common border, as opposed to Amon and Moav, which were located north of Judah.
‎[13] **You were haughty, **speaking arrogantly **against Me with your mouths**,** and you increased your words against Me; **your dreams of conquest and your boasts **I heard**.** **
‎[14] Therefore,** so said the Lord God: When the entire earth rejoices **upon the return of the Jewish people to their homeland,** I will render you desolation. **
‎[15] **Like your joy over the inheritance of the house of Israel, over its having become desolate, so I will do to you; you will be desolation, Mount Se’ir and all Edom in its entirety, and they will know that I am the Lord. **
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center